Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 1, 1990 TAG: 9006010069
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TRACY WIMMER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
While other singers have found their careers interrupted or even ended by shifting popularity, this 43-year-old vocalist supreme has jumped from one chart-top to another - meanwhile pursuing any new material or style that piqued her interest along the way.
By all accounts, Ronstadt is a superstar.
In the '70s, she did much to popularize country-rock, but in the '80s, she daringly ventured away from this sound, performing in opera and operetta as well as making three albums of '50s-type ballads. But while gaining new fans, she has managed to maintain her old ones.
On Tuesday, Ronstadt will return to her musical roots in a show at the Roanoke Civic Center dedicated primarily to her earlier days on stage. This concert will be her first tour in 10 years to feature such rock hits as "You're No Good" and "When Will I Be Loved."
Ronstadt's 1988 tour promoting "Canciones di mi Padre" was sung entirely in Spanish, leaving some fans angry and a lot of seats empty by the end of the tour.
Officials of Chesapeake Concerts, promoters of this show, have said Ronstadt will perform no more than one mariachi song this time around.
This year's tour will showcase songs from Ronstadt's latest million-selling album, "Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind," including her hit duet with Aaron Neville, "Don't Know Much." Neville and Ronstadt are featured together on four of the album's tracks.
Unfortunately, the Neville Brothers will not be in Roanoke, which is one of three warm-up venues for the tour. The Nevilles will join the tour later, replacing the Little River Band as the opening act.
"Cry Like a Rainstorm . . . " was produced by Peter Asher, the singer's longtime producer and manager, and renowned producer George Massenburg. It was recorded on the scoring stage of Skywalker Ranch, film maker George Lucas's lavish post-production facility in Marin County, Calif.
The album's twelve songs were contributed by veteran composers like Jimmy Webb, Karla Bonoff, and the team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill - who along with Tom Snow, wrote the album's premier single, "Don't Know Much."
"Cry Like A Rainstorm" was a conglomeration of Ronstadt's previous musical adventures, according to a statement she made in a recent news release.
"I had learned a lot about rhythm and phrasing from singing Mexican music because the rhythmic ideas are so radically different from those of Ameican pop music," Ronstadt said. "I sort of relearned my rock 'n' roll phrasing over again, but it was strengthened by the techniques that I learned from mariachi music, like the falsetto singing. Singing with Dolly Parton and Emmy Lou Harris on the "Trio" album made it easier for me to break down and and analyze Aaron's (Neville) vocal technique and to sing with him."
The creation of "Cry Like A Rainstorm" was not without trials and tribulations: At one point, Massenburg lost 80 percent of his hearing in one ear during an airplane ride. He has since fully recovered.
During recording, Ronstadt was in a car accident that injured her back and left her unable to record for weeks. She spent that time in bed, calling the studio and listening to the tracks over the phone.
"Making this album was like climbing a mountain," Ronstadt stated. "But we did it and I'm very proud and very happy."
LINDA RONSTADT at the Roanoke Civic Center coliseum on Tuesday at 8 p.m. The Little River Band will open the show. Tickets, $19.50, all seats reserved. 981-1201.
by CNB